Title: A Change in Me, Part Two
Author: Storydivagirl@hotmail.com
Updates: For knowledge aside from the fanfiction.net notices, you can join my yahoo group by emailing: whiteroom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of All My Children. I'm nothing but a fan of Greenlee Smythe du Pres and found myself thinking up this unlikely pairing.
Summary: This is somewhat based off Greenlee's current state as town pariah, but set in the future with much angst (would Greenlee have it any other way), when Greenlee finds out that she's facing the toughest fight of her life. She ends up turning to the most unlikely of people and this is mostly going to be about their relationship through it all.
Feedback: Always welcome—the good, bad, and ugly.
Part Two: Hospitals Kill the Mood
If someone had told Boyd a few months ago that his feelings for Greenlee du Pres could be anything more than those of dislike from afar for someone he barely knew, he would've laughed it off. He would've talked at length about how he learned his lesson after the Kendall debacle and avoided situations where women tried to take advantage of him. Nevertheless, Greenlee had surprised him. Literally. Appearing from behind a group of rocks on the beach and making an inappropriate comment. He wasn't sure why he hadn't stormed off. He vaguely remembered planning to, but when he got a good look at her disheveled appearance, he couldn't bring himself to leave without attempting to help her.
That one choice had changed everything for him. Greenlee referred to it as "good guy syndrome" and now, here he was, once again thinking that nice guys really did finish last.
Boyd paced outside her room, berating himself for agreeing to Greenlee's stupid plan while he waited for the doctor to let him see her. This felt wrong. He needed to be in there with her. He'd been there for everything else and now, when she needed him most, he wasn't allowed into her room. Some lame story about not being family—he was more family to her than anyone else was. Boyd was the one who held her hand when the after effects of the chemotherapy took over. He was the one who sat next to her when the doctor explained that she wasn't responding as well to treatment as they hoped and that they were going to have to take a more aggressive course of action. He was the one that made sure she didn't give up or stop fighting.
He almost didn't notice Mia rush at him, lost in the "what if's" of this current turn for the worse, but caught her right as she threw herself into his arms for a quick hug. She looked frazzled, like she had rushed out the second he had called her, and that actually made him feel a bit better. Boyd had been struggling for so long to keep this under wraps, resisting the urge to contact Greenlee's father and abide by her wishes, and was relieved when Mia figured things out. Greenlee had sworn her to secrecy as well—so scared to let anyone see her as fragile as the rest of them—but at least Boyd was no longer alone in his knowledge. Whoever said, "knowledge was power" had never been swept up in circumstances beyond his control.
"How is she?" Mia asked, loosening her scarf and slipping out of her coat. She motioned to the doors that separated them from Greenlee and added, "She was doing better the last time I visited. How did this happen?"
Boyd sighed and answered, "She was doing better, but she decided to take a road trip and it ended up worsening her condition."
"What the hell was she thinking? And how did she get out of here without anyone noticing?" Mia questioned.
"I helped her."
"What?"
"She asked for my help and you know I—"
"Why would you do that? She needed to be here, Boyd."
"Both she and the doctors said she was doing better. She swore she would let me know the minute she felt the slightest bit exhausted."
"Obviously that worked," Mia snapped.
Boyd couldn't take it anymore and snapped right back, "How the hell would you know, Mia? It's not as though you've witnessed the worst of this. You leave as soon as things get bad—you're not with her all the time. Greenlee doesn't want to die in a hospital. She's repeated that over and over to me—"
"She's not going to die."
"How do you know that, Mia? You've only had to deal with this news for a few weeks—I've been helping her with this since she found out. You haven't seen her at her worst or witnessed the fear she tries to hide. She asked me to get her out of the hospital for a few hours so that she could think and feel normal again. I thought it would help her, remind her why she was fighting so hard. I don't know, maybe it was a bad idea, but you of all people should know that you can't talk Greenlee out of something once she's got her mind set on it. She would've gone with or without me. I thought that if I was there, I could make sure she was okay."
Mia fell into one of the plastic chairs that lined the wall. She let out a loud breath, the hissing sound of a balloon deflating after being pricked, and replied, "You're right, okay? About all of it and I'm sorry, but—she's in trouble, Boyd, and you and I aren't equipped to make some of the decisions that are coming."
"I know."
"You know? What do you plan to do about it?" Mia asked. She stared at him, waiting for a response, but when he said nothing, she went on, "Her father is back in town now. Sooner or later he's going to figure this out and he deserves to be there for her."
"Isn't that her decision to make?"
"I don't think it is anymore," Mia replied. Boyd sat down next to her and Mia intertwined her hand with his. She said, "We both know that part of the reason Greenlee hasn't told anyone is because she's secretly scared that no one will care."
"Can you blame her? Prior to the diagnosis, almost everyone in town, including me, disliked her. She never had anyone when she was growing up who told her that you could love someone even when she made mistakes. She grew up without anyone around to forgive her or help her through things, Mia. She thinks she's alone and I can't force her to accept something she's had no experience with."
Mia shook her head and countered, "I understand that and I've witnessed it first hand from Greenlee since we've become friends, but--she's got to know that she's not alone in this, Boyd. People care about her. People love her. And—and there is only so much that you and I can do for her if things get any worse."
Before Boyd could respond, Dr. Grey stepped out of the room. Boyd jumped out of his seat and managed to catch a glimpse of Greenlee laying there unconscious as the door swung back-and-forth. She looked so different when she was asleep. It was something he had studied a few times—how all the walls and masks disappeared and it was just her. He had caught glimpses of it throughout the course of the past two months, but she never maintained it for long.
"How's she doing, Maria?" Mia asked.
"She's fallen into a coma. Her immune system has shut itself down, probably a combination of the chemotherapy, pneumonia, and exhaustion all compounding one another. Right now, we have her on massive doses of antibiotics and our first priority is to get the pneumonia under control."
"What about her treatments? She recently started a more aggressive set." Boyd replied. He was amazed that he was able to say anything coherently when his mind was still caught up on the word "coma."
Maria frowned, not a good sign, and said, "Her doctors can't do anything about the cancer until she's out of the coma. Once she wakes up and the pneumonia is under control, they can reschedule her treatment sessions."
"But that could—"Mia's voice lingered off, unable to finish the sentence.
Boyd closed his eyes against the negative thoughts running through his mind, knowing full-well that the same thoughts were crossing Mia and Maria's minds as well. He forced out, finishing Mia's thought, "That could be bad."
Maria stated, "It's true. It's—Greenlee is a friend of mine so it's hard for me to be objective here..."
When Maria didn't finish her sentence, Boyd prompted her, "But?"
"If this was any other case, taking into consideration how aggressive the cancer has gotten and the fact that her treatments have been postponed, I would tell the family to prepare for the worst," Maria replied. She placed her hand on Boyd's arm and added, "If you need help contacting people—"
"Greenlee and I have a procedure in place for this already."
"She's lucky to have the two of you," Maria replied. She looked from Boyd to Mia and back before she said, "The one thing I've learned as a doctor is that not every case works out the same way. This could be Greenlee's way of preparing herself for the remainder of her fight."
Mia nodded. Boyd tried to believe that, but he wasn't so sure. Neither Maria nor Mia had seen her at the falls. She seemed so defeated. Boyd forced out, "Thank you for all your help, Maria. You're one of the few people Greenlee trusts with this."
Maria smiled sympathetically and said, "I think it's time we let the others into the loop as well. As much as I dislike David, he's her family and a brilliant doctor. He might know of some treatments that we aren't aware of."
"I guess."
Maria squeezed Boyd's shoulder and said, "Having more people around that she can count on can only alleviate some of the stress she's feeling and I'm sure it would help you too."
"I don't mind—"
Maria cut him off, "It's something to think about."
Boyd kept his face neutral, unwilling to admit to anything until he had time to process what had happened. He and Greenlee had talked about this and she decided that she would trust him to make the right decision for her if the time ever came when she was unable to do it for herself. It was a conversation he had tried to avoid—too depressing by nature, especially when the reality of it was all around him—but he had stopped by her loft when she was in the midst of preparing letters for people. She called it her attempts at "maudlin trips down memory lane to make her feel less guilty for certain things she had done in her life."
Mia motioned to the room and asked, "Can we see her now?"
Maria nodded, "One at a time—we don't want to overwhelm her, but I think the two of you will be good for her."
Mia pushed her hand into Boyd's back and said, "Go ahead."
Boyd nodded and said, "Thanks for all you've done for her, Maria."
"Greenlee was there for me when Edmund was hurt—I barely knew her, but she took it upon herself to offer her assistance. I haven't forgotten that."
"Yeah, sometimes she surprises you," Mia replied with a smile. She once again pushed Boyd toward the door and said, "Tell her that we all love her and that we're waiting for her to wake up and comment on how pathetic we all were to worry."
Boyd smiled. Mia was right. When this was over, Greenlee was going to mock him for overreacting. She would say something like, "I leave you to your own machinations for five minutes and suddenly we're performing group prayers over my bed?" He opened the door and stepped cautiously into the room. The sound of a heart monitor mixed with the respirator into a funky sort of beat and it lulled him into a strange calm. The noises echoing through the room meant she was still with them.
Greenlee was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen—not only her looks, which were unarguably amazing, but also the energy she exuded, even from a hospital bed. There was something about her that made it impossible to walk away. As he watched her chest rise and fall in synch with the machines, he decided that it was because of Victoria. She looked like a doll his sister used to own named Victoria. Both Greenlee and the doll shared the same pale, porcelain look with the big brown eyes and long eyelashes that curled at the edges, and he remembered how his sister used to say to him, "Careful with Victoria, Boyd, she breaks easy."
She breaks easy.
Boyd pulled a seat up next to the bed and took her hand in his. It was strange how nicely their hands fit together. He had noticed it once before, but refrained from saying anything, scared of what it meant, but now, it was all he could think about. It was the pink elephant in the room with the two of them. He brushed his lips against her palm, smooth and soft to the touch like satin sheets, and whispered, "It's time, Lee."
Greenlee remained motionless. Boyd wasn't sure what he expected—that his voice would magically awaken her like she was some fairytale princess playing opposite his knight-in-shining-armor?—but when she didn't stir, he squeezed her hand and continued talking, "You keep coming up with excuses to keep your sickness a secret, but it's not working. It seems I'm not enough to help you anymore."
He moved his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek. He glanced out the door where he could see Mia watching him intently. He cleared his throat and said, "You took me by surprise, you know. We keep not talking about it—how close we've gotten—playing it off like it's another side effect of you being sick. I don't think that's all there is to it anymore, Lee. I think I found you on the beach that night for a reason. I think we were meant to help each other." He brushed her hair back and fought against the pain attempting to unleash itself. He croaked out, "It's time to wake up now. We still have things to do. Remember how you said you wanted to bungee jump off a mountain in New Zealand? I'd pay good money to see that..."
Boyd cleared his throat, but the longer he tried to articulate a lucid statement, it became more and more impossible. Words were like rocks resting in his throat, making him dizzy and unable to breathe. He stood up, leaned over, pressing his lips against her forehead—so warm, too warm, he thought—and made a quick exit from the room.
Never in his life did he remember fearing for someone so much and he wondered what was wrong with him. Why had he allowed her to grow so important to him when there was a chance he could lose out in the end? Why did he continuously set himself up for a fall? Then he remembered that he hadn't planned to care for her. That was something that happened of its own accord. It started out as pity, something he would've done for anyone, and somehow metamorphosed itself into friendship before finally settling into whatever-this-feeling-in-his-chest-was the better he grew to know her.
Boyd searched the waiting area for Mia, locating her sprawled out over the length of orange chairs in the back corner. Her arms curled around her jacket and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side as she slept. Boyd almost regretted having to wake her, but nudged her leg all the same. Mia stirred and her eyes fluttered opened. She looked up at Boyd expectantly. When he shook his head, she sighed, rubbing her eyes, and offered, "Maybe it's like Maria said—she's exhausted and this is Greenlee's way of recharging before coming back to fight the rest of the battle."
She sat herself up, patting a seat next to her for Boyd to sit in, and stretched her arms over her head. A small groan escaped and she stated, "Remind me never to fall asleep on these chairs again. I'm going to be a permanent fixture at the chiropractor. Let it not go without saying that Greenlee lives to torture those she loves." Off the unyieldingly serious and far-away expression on Boyd's face, Mia added, "I hoped to elicit a laugh there, or at the very least, a small smile."
Boyd forced a small smile and said, "I'm sorry. My mind is elsewhere."
"On Greenlee."
"Yes, and what I have to do," Boyd replied. He focused his eyes on the floor and kicked at his shadow. He felt incredibly useless at the moment and the only thing he had to do was the one thing he didn't want to face.
"If you're worried about leaving her, I promise to stay in there with her until you get back. I don't care if the nurses try to make me leave—I'll shackle myself to the bed." Boyd laughed and Mia smiled triumphantly, "Finally. A smile."
"Yeah, well, I was picturing the look on Greenlee's face when she wakes up to find you handcuffed to her bed."
"Disappointment that it isn't you?" Boyd tried to make like he didn't hear what Mia had said. He kept his eyes focused on the ground and tried not to make how his shoulders tightened obvious. "I'm neither blind nor stupid, Boyd. I see the way the two of you look each other—"
"We don't—"
"I've seen the person Greenlee becomes when she's around you," Mia leaned in as if to expel ancient wisdom and went on, "Between you and me, she's a helluva lot nicer now and I'm pretty sure the entire town is thankful for that."
Boyd replied, "That's all her, Mia. It was there all along...she just needed a reason to bring it out, I guess. Maybe realizing how fragile life is..."
"Save that old spiel for someone else, Boyd. I'm not butting my nose into whatever is going on with the two of you, except to say, you're good for her."
"She's good for me too."
"As it should be."
"And now I have to keep a promise I made her."
Mia met his gaze and sighed, "By talking to Jackson?"
Boyd nodded and repeated, "By talking to Jackson."
Author: Storydivagirl@hotmail.com
Updates: For knowledge aside from the fanfiction.net notices, you can join my yahoo group by emailing: whiteroom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of All My Children. I'm nothing but a fan of Greenlee Smythe du Pres and found myself thinking up this unlikely pairing.
Summary: This is somewhat based off Greenlee's current state as town pariah, but set in the future with much angst (would Greenlee have it any other way), when Greenlee finds out that she's facing the toughest fight of her life. She ends up turning to the most unlikely of people and this is mostly going to be about their relationship through it all.
Feedback: Always welcome—the good, bad, and ugly.
Part Two: Hospitals Kill the Mood
If someone had told Boyd a few months ago that his feelings for Greenlee du Pres could be anything more than those of dislike from afar for someone he barely knew, he would've laughed it off. He would've talked at length about how he learned his lesson after the Kendall debacle and avoided situations where women tried to take advantage of him. Nevertheless, Greenlee had surprised him. Literally. Appearing from behind a group of rocks on the beach and making an inappropriate comment. He wasn't sure why he hadn't stormed off. He vaguely remembered planning to, but when he got a good look at her disheveled appearance, he couldn't bring himself to leave without attempting to help her.
That one choice had changed everything for him. Greenlee referred to it as "good guy syndrome" and now, here he was, once again thinking that nice guys really did finish last.
Boyd paced outside her room, berating himself for agreeing to Greenlee's stupid plan while he waited for the doctor to let him see her. This felt wrong. He needed to be in there with her. He'd been there for everything else and now, when she needed him most, he wasn't allowed into her room. Some lame story about not being family—he was more family to her than anyone else was. Boyd was the one who held her hand when the after effects of the chemotherapy took over. He was the one who sat next to her when the doctor explained that she wasn't responding as well to treatment as they hoped and that they were going to have to take a more aggressive course of action. He was the one that made sure she didn't give up or stop fighting.
He almost didn't notice Mia rush at him, lost in the "what if's" of this current turn for the worse, but caught her right as she threw herself into his arms for a quick hug. She looked frazzled, like she had rushed out the second he had called her, and that actually made him feel a bit better. Boyd had been struggling for so long to keep this under wraps, resisting the urge to contact Greenlee's father and abide by her wishes, and was relieved when Mia figured things out. Greenlee had sworn her to secrecy as well—so scared to let anyone see her as fragile as the rest of them—but at least Boyd was no longer alone in his knowledge. Whoever said, "knowledge was power" had never been swept up in circumstances beyond his control.
"How is she?" Mia asked, loosening her scarf and slipping out of her coat. She motioned to the doors that separated them from Greenlee and added, "She was doing better the last time I visited. How did this happen?"
Boyd sighed and answered, "She was doing better, but she decided to take a road trip and it ended up worsening her condition."
"What the hell was she thinking? And how did she get out of here without anyone noticing?" Mia questioned.
"I helped her."
"What?"
"She asked for my help and you know I—"
"Why would you do that? She needed to be here, Boyd."
"Both she and the doctors said she was doing better. She swore she would let me know the minute she felt the slightest bit exhausted."
"Obviously that worked," Mia snapped.
Boyd couldn't take it anymore and snapped right back, "How the hell would you know, Mia? It's not as though you've witnessed the worst of this. You leave as soon as things get bad—you're not with her all the time. Greenlee doesn't want to die in a hospital. She's repeated that over and over to me—"
"She's not going to die."
"How do you know that, Mia? You've only had to deal with this news for a few weeks—I've been helping her with this since she found out. You haven't seen her at her worst or witnessed the fear she tries to hide. She asked me to get her out of the hospital for a few hours so that she could think and feel normal again. I thought it would help her, remind her why she was fighting so hard. I don't know, maybe it was a bad idea, but you of all people should know that you can't talk Greenlee out of something once she's got her mind set on it. She would've gone with or without me. I thought that if I was there, I could make sure she was okay."
Mia fell into one of the plastic chairs that lined the wall. She let out a loud breath, the hissing sound of a balloon deflating after being pricked, and replied, "You're right, okay? About all of it and I'm sorry, but—she's in trouble, Boyd, and you and I aren't equipped to make some of the decisions that are coming."
"I know."
"You know? What do you plan to do about it?" Mia asked. She stared at him, waiting for a response, but when he said nothing, she went on, "Her father is back in town now. Sooner or later he's going to figure this out and he deserves to be there for her."
"Isn't that her decision to make?"
"I don't think it is anymore," Mia replied. Boyd sat down next to her and Mia intertwined her hand with his. She said, "We both know that part of the reason Greenlee hasn't told anyone is because she's secretly scared that no one will care."
"Can you blame her? Prior to the diagnosis, almost everyone in town, including me, disliked her. She never had anyone when she was growing up who told her that you could love someone even when she made mistakes. She grew up without anyone around to forgive her or help her through things, Mia. She thinks she's alone and I can't force her to accept something she's had no experience with."
Mia shook her head and countered, "I understand that and I've witnessed it first hand from Greenlee since we've become friends, but--she's got to know that she's not alone in this, Boyd. People care about her. People love her. And—and there is only so much that you and I can do for her if things get any worse."
Before Boyd could respond, Dr. Grey stepped out of the room. Boyd jumped out of his seat and managed to catch a glimpse of Greenlee laying there unconscious as the door swung back-and-forth. She looked so different when she was asleep. It was something he had studied a few times—how all the walls and masks disappeared and it was just her. He had caught glimpses of it throughout the course of the past two months, but she never maintained it for long.
"How's she doing, Maria?" Mia asked.
"She's fallen into a coma. Her immune system has shut itself down, probably a combination of the chemotherapy, pneumonia, and exhaustion all compounding one another. Right now, we have her on massive doses of antibiotics and our first priority is to get the pneumonia under control."
"What about her treatments? She recently started a more aggressive set." Boyd replied. He was amazed that he was able to say anything coherently when his mind was still caught up on the word "coma."
Maria frowned, not a good sign, and said, "Her doctors can't do anything about the cancer until she's out of the coma. Once she wakes up and the pneumonia is under control, they can reschedule her treatment sessions."
"But that could—"Mia's voice lingered off, unable to finish the sentence.
Boyd closed his eyes against the negative thoughts running through his mind, knowing full-well that the same thoughts were crossing Mia and Maria's minds as well. He forced out, finishing Mia's thought, "That could be bad."
Maria stated, "It's true. It's—Greenlee is a friend of mine so it's hard for me to be objective here..."
When Maria didn't finish her sentence, Boyd prompted her, "But?"
"If this was any other case, taking into consideration how aggressive the cancer has gotten and the fact that her treatments have been postponed, I would tell the family to prepare for the worst," Maria replied. She placed her hand on Boyd's arm and added, "If you need help contacting people—"
"Greenlee and I have a procedure in place for this already."
"She's lucky to have the two of you," Maria replied. She looked from Boyd to Mia and back before she said, "The one thing I've learned as a doctor is that not every case works out the same way. This could be Greenlee's way of preparing herself for the remainder of her fight."
Mia nodded. Boyd tried to believe that, but he wasn't so sure. Neither Maria nor Mia had seen her at the falls. She seemed so defeated. Boyd forced out, "Thank you for all your help, Maria. You're one of the few people Greenlee trusts with this."
Maria smiled sympathetically and said, "I think it's time we let the others into the loop as well. As much as I dislike David, he's her family and a brilliant doctor. He might know of some treatments that we aren't aware of."
"I guess."
Maria squeezed Boyd's shoulder and said, "Having more people around that she can count on can only alleviate some of the stress she's feeling and I'm sure it would help you too."
"I don't mind—"
Maria cut him off, "It's something to think about."
Boyd kept his face neutral, unwilling to admit to anything until he had time to process what had happened. He and Greenlee had talked about this and she decided that she would trust him to make the right decision for her if the time ever came when she was unable to do it for herself. It was a conversation he had tried to avoid—too depressing by nature, especially when the reality of it was all around him—but he had stopped by her loft when she was in the midst of preparing letters for people. She called it her attempts at "maudlin trips down memory lane to make her feel less guilty for certain things she had done in her life."
Mia motioned to the room and asked, "Can we see her now?"
Maria nodded, "One at a time—we don't want to overwhelm her, but I think the two of you will be good for her."
Mia pushed her hand into Boyd's back and said, "Go ahead."
Boyd nodded and said, "Thanks for all you've done for her, Maria."
"Greenlee was there for me when Edmund was hurt—I barely knew her, but she took it upon herself to offer her assistance. I haven't forgotten that."
"Yeah, sometimes she surprises you," Mia replied with a smile. She once again pushed Boyd toward the door and said, "Tell her that we all love her and that we're waiting for her to wake up and comment on how pathetic we all were to worry."
Boyd smiled. Mia was right. When this was over, Greenlee was going to mock him for overreacting. She would say something like, "I leave you to your own machinations for five minutes and suddenly we're performing group prayers over my bed?" He opened the door and stepped cautiously into the room. The sound of a heart monitor mixed with the respirator into a funky sort of beat and it lulled him into a strange calm. The noises echoing through the room meant she was still with them.
Greenlee was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen—not only her looks, which were unarguably amazing, but also the energy she exuded, even from a hospital bed. There was something about her that made it impossible to walk away. As he watched her chest rise and fall in synch with the machines, he decided that it was because of Victoria. She looked like a doll his sister used to own named Victoria. Both Greenlee and the doll shared the same pale, porcelain look with the big brown eyes and long eyelashes that curled at the edges, and he remembered how his sister used to say to him, "Careful with Victoria, Boyd, she breaks easy."
She breaks easy.
Boyd pulled a seat up next to the bed and took her hand in his. It was strange how nicely their hands fit together. He had noticed it once before, but refrained from saying anything, scared of what it meant, but now, it was all he could think about. It was the pink elephant in the room with the two of them. He brushed his lips against her palm, smooth and soft to the touch like satin sheets, and whispered, "It's time, Lee."
Greenlee remained motionless. Boyd wasn't sure what he expected—that his voice would magically awaken her like she was some fairytale princess playing opposite his knight-in-shining-armor?—but when she didn't stir, he squeezed her hand and continued talking, "You keep coming up with excuses to keep your sickness a secret, but it's not working. It seems I'm not enough to help you anymore."
He moved his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek. He glanced out the door where he could see Mia watching him intently. He cleared his throat and said, "You took me by surprise, you know. We keep not talking about it—how close we've gotten—playing it off like it's another side effect of you being sick. I don't think that's all there is to it anymore, Lee. I think I found you on the beach that night for a reason. I think we were meant to help each other." He brushed her hair back and fought against the pain attempting to unleash itself. He croaked out, "It's time to wake up now. We still have things to do. Remember how you said you wanted to bungee jump off a mountain in New Zealand? I'd pay good money to see that..."
Boyd cleared his throat, but the longer he tried to articulate a lucid statement, it became more and more impossible. Words were like rocks resting in his throat, making him dizzy and unable to breathe. He stood up, leaned over, pressing his lips against her forehead—so warm, too warm, he thought—and made a quick exit from the room.
Never in his life did he remember fearing for someone so much and he wondered what was wrong with him. Why had he allowed her to grow so important to him when there was a chance he could lose out in the end? Why did he continuously set himself up for a fall? Then he remembered that he hadn't planned to care for her. That was something that happened of its own accord. It started out as pity, something he would've done for anyone, and somehow metamorphosed itself into friendship before finally settling into whatever-this-feeling-in-his-chest-was the better he grew to know her.
Boyd searched the waiting area for Mia, locating her sprawled out over the length of orange chairs in the back corner. Her arms curled around her jacket and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side as she slept. Boyd almost regretted having to wake her, but nudged her leg all the same. Mia stirred and her eyes fluttered opened. She looked up at Boyd expectantly. When he shook his head, she sighed, rubbing her eyes, and offered, "Maybe it's like Maria said—she's exhausted and this is Greenlee's way of recharging before coming back to fight the rest of the battle."
She sat herself up, patting a seat next to her for Boyd to sit in, and stretched her arms over her head. A small groan escaped and she stated, "Remind me never to fall asleep on these chairs again. I'm going to be a permanent fixture at the chiropractor. Let it not go without saying that Greenlee lives to torture those she loves." Off the unyieldingly serious and far-away expression on Boyd's face, Mia added, "I hoped to elicit a laugh there, or at the very least, a small smile."
Boyd forced a small smile and said, "I'm sorry. My mind is elsewhere."
"On Greenlee."
"Yes, and what I have to do," Boyd replied. He focused his eyes on the floor and kicked at his shadow. He felt incredibly useless at the moment and the only thing he had to do was the one thing he didn't want to face.
"If you're worried about leaving her, I promise to stay in there with her until you get back. I don't care if the nurses try to make me leave—I'll shackle myself to the bed." Boyd laughed and Mia smiled triumphantly, "Finally. A smile."
"Yeah, well, I was picturing the look on Greenlee's face when she wakes up to find you handcuffed to her bed."
"Disappointment that it isn't you?" Boyd tried to make like he didn't hear what Mia had said. He kept his eyes focused on the ground and tried not to make how his shoulders tightened obvious. "I'm neither blind nor stupid, Boyd. I see the way the two of you look each other—"
"We don't—"
"I've seen the person Greenlee becomes when she's around you," Mia leaned in as if to expel ancient wisdom and went on, "Between you and me, she's a helluva lot nicer now and I'm pretty sure the entire town is thankful for that."
Boyd replied, "That's all her, Mia. It was there all along...she just needed a reason to bring it out, I guess. Maybe realizing how fragile life is..."
"Save that old spiel for someone else, Boyd. I'm not butting my nose into whatever is going on with the two of you, except to say, you're good for her."
"She's good for me too."
"As it should be."
"And now I have to keep a promise I made her."
Mia met his gaze and sighed, "By talking to Jackson?"
Boyd nodded and repeated, "By talking to Jackson."